Parts for Construction Kits

ABSTRACT

A toy construction kit of the type comprising apertured ˜ocks and pegs for joining them together. The kit comprises a baseboard, pegs, and four different types of block, and a plurality of panels of stepped cladding. Protruding pegs allow them to be fitted to a skeleton support structure built of +ocks rising upwardly and away from a central region of the baseboard in the form of terraces around the central region. The four different types of +&gt;Ak comprise four-element and two-element solid rectilinear blocks, two-element solid regular trapezoidal corner blocks, and infill corner +ocks. Each of the latter comprises a solid rectilinear shape with a solid triangular extension at one end, with an overall length not greater than that of a two-element regular trapezoidal +&gt;Ak. A single element is a cube containing a central opening in each face and an N-element rectilinear +&gt;Ak has a length equal to N such elements arranged end to end. A hinge for joining two +&gt;cks together comprises a rectangular plastics plate divided into two parts by a strip hinge extending across the plate. One part pivots relative to the other by bending about the line of the strip hinge and each half includes at least one protruding peg for fitting it to a +&gt;Ak. Some pegs include a flange, so that two +&gt;cks joined thereby are spaced apart in the same way as bricks are spaced by mortar joints. The pegs may be cylindrical and hollow, and the cylindrical wall is cutaway along its length to form a gap in its circumference extending from one end to the other to impart resilience to the peg. Some +ocks are cut away at one end on two opposite side faces to form a reduced width rebated end, and one end of other of the +ocks is cutaway to form a bifurcated end to slidingly receive the rebated end of another +&gt;Ak. A peg pushed through aligned holes in the rebated and bifurcated ends serves as a pivot and allows one +&gt;Ak to hinge relative to the other. A model stadium, arena or open air theatre assem˜y can be constructed from such a kit of parts.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention concerns construction kits by which models of buildingsand other structures, especially model sports stadiums can beconstructed.

BACKGROUND

Construction kits are described in French Patent Specification 2405830,GB Patent Specifications 371,038 and 2,108,857, Gebrauchmuster 8710893.3 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,599.

Improved construction kits are described in my copending UK PatentApplications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2. These kits employ blocks havingopenings in some or all of their faces and may be shaped as rectilinearor solid trapezoidal blocks, and include pegs for joining the blockstogether.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved parts forsuch construction kits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention in a kit of partscomprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining them together there isprovided a hinge for hingedly joining at least two blocks togethercomprising a rectangular plastics plate divided into two parts by astrip hinge formed by a linear region of reduced thickness extendingacross the plate, whereby one part can be pivoted through at least 90°relative to the other by bending about the line of the strip hinge andwherein each half includes at least one peg protruding therefrom.

Preferably the two pegs extend from the same face of the plate when thetwo parts of the latter are coplanar.

Each peg is dimensioned so as to be a push fit in any of the openings inthe apertured blocks so that where each part has one peg, by pushing oneof the pegs into an opening in one block and the other peg into anopening in another block, the two blocks will be joined by the striphinge section of the two part plate, and can be hinged relative to eachother to the extent permitted by the hinge.

Normally the hinging will be such that one block can be hinged from aposition in which it lies parallel and substantially in contact with theother block, to a position in which it makes an acute angle to the otherblock.

If blocks are to be spaced apart the hinge joint can be used for thispurpose by hinging the one block relative to the other until the twoparts of the plate are back to back and in contact, so that the pegs nowprotrude in axial alignment in opposite directions on either side of thefolded plate. The latter will now space apart the opposed faces of thetwo blocks fitted to the two pegs.

According to a preferred feature of this first aspect of the invention,plates of different size and having any number of protruding pegs may beprovided. Thus in the simplest case the two parts are of similar sizeand shape and each has one protruding peg.

Typically but not essentially the number of pegs will be proportional tothe size of each part.

The invention envisages arrangements in which one part is N times thesize of the other and has N times as many pegs.

Where two or more pegs are provided on a part of the hinge, the spacingof the pegs preferably corresponds to the spacing of the openings in theblocks.

A part having two protruding pegs can be fitted to two openings in oneblock or to one opening in each of two blocks, arranged end to end orside by side.

Typically hinges are constructed so as to have two similar sized plateswhich extend away from the hinge line by a distance commensurate withthe width dimension of one of the construction kit blocks and whichextend parallel to the line of the hinge by a fraction or whole numbermultiple (including 1) of the length of the blocks and have a number ofprotruding pegs commensurate with the block length dimensions theyrelate to.

Thus in the case of a hinge having 16 pegs protruding from each part,each of the 16 bpegs being equally spaced apart in a straight lineparallel to the hinge line, four 4-hole blocks arranged end to end canbe fitted to each part of the hinge.

Individual pegs may be employed to join these blocks together end to endif desired, and/or to join other blocks to the blocks attached to thehinge.

According to another aspect of the present invention where blocks are tobe spaced apart in the same way as bricks are spaced by mortar joints,each of the individual pegs may be formed with a flange typically midwayalong its length, the thickness of the flange determining the spacingbetween opposed faces of two blocks joined by inserting one end of thepeg into an opening in one block and the other end of the peg into anopening in the other block.

The flange may be any shape such as circular or square or rectangular,and if mortar joints are to be replicated rectangular or square shapedflanges are preferred, the size of each rectangle or squarecorresponding to one of the faces of a block.

The flanges may be separately manufactured from the pegs and be pushfitted or otherwise joined to the pegs.

In a preferred arrangement each flange may be apertured and the pegs areformed with a surface indentation or groove midway (or thereabouts)along their length, the size of the aperture being such, and thematerial from which the flange and/or peg is formed, or the design ofthe peg being such, that the latter can be forced through the aperturein the flange until the indentation or groove is reached at which pointthe flange will snap into the indented or grooved region of the peg andwill tend to remain at that position.

The aperture in the flange may correspond in shape to the crosssectional shape of the peg or may be in the form of a slot so thatrelative movement is possible between the peg and the flange. This maybe of advantage in the case of rectangular flanges since it will allowthe peg to be inserted into any one of a number of openings in arectangular block face and for the rectangular flange to be positionedas desired relative to the block.

The flange can serve another purpose and according to another aspect ofthe invention each peg is formed with a radial protrusion which may be aflange around some or all of the perimeter of the peg cross section, forthe purpose of limiting the depth to which the peg can be inserted intoan opening in a block.

This feature is of advantage when the openings in the blocks extend fromone face to the other, since it is important that approximately one halfthe length of each peg is available to protrude into each of twoabutting blocks.

The protrusion will of course space apart the blocks and if that is notrequired according to another aspect of the present invention the faceof each block may be recessed around the entrance to each opening in theblock, to accommodate at least one half the thickness of any pegprotrusion. In this way cavities are formed between abutting faces oftwo blocks which will accommodate the protrusions and allow the blockfaces to touch.

According to a further aspect of the invention each individual peg iscylindrical and the cylindrical wall is cutaway along the length of thepeg to form a small gap at one point around the circumference of thepeg, which extends from one end of the peg to the other.

By making the peg from resiliently deformable material and constructingit so that the outside diameter of the cylindrical form of the peg isoversize relative to the openings in the blocks the act of pushing thepeg into an opening in a block will cause the gap in the cylindricalwall to close up and reduce the overall dimensions of the peg crosssection, so that it can slide into the block. The resilience of the pegmaterial will tend to hold the peg firmly in place in the opening, sinceall the time it is in the block, the cylindrical cross section has beenreduced and the peg will be trying to recover its uncompressed size.

The pegs may be formed for example from resilient plastics material orfrom springy sheet steel.

The ends of the pegs may be chamfered to facilitate their insertion intothe blocks.

According to another aspect of the present invention a hinge assembly oftwo apertured blocks of a construction kit as aforesaid may be formed ifone end of one of two blocks is rebated on opposite side faces to form areduced width end and one end of the other block is cutaway to form abifurcated end so as to present two parallel spaced apart flangesbetween which the rebated reduced width end of the other block canslide, and wherein the rebated end includes a through bore and the twoflanges of the co-operating end of the other block are formed withaxially aligned openings which when the two blocks are fitted togethercan be aligned with the through bore, the diameter of the holes in atleast one of the flanges being such that a peg as aforesaid can bepushed fitted therethrough and be gripped by the or each flange so asnot to fall out, and the diameter of the through bore in the rebated endsection is selected so that the other block is either free to rotateabout the peg, or grips the peg so that if one block is rotated relativeto the other about the peg axis, the two blocks will remain in therelative angular position into which they have been moved.

The peg may be just long enough to accommodate the width of thebifurcated block end so as not to protrude or can be longer so that itcan be push fitted into an opening in another adjoining block or otherblocks.

The adjoining block or blocks may be conventional blocks, or may bepairs of hinged blocks, similar to the first.

According to another aspect of the present invention a kit of parts fora construction kit such as described and claimed in my co-pending UKApplications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2 may include blocks whose crosssection is a right angled triangle and one of the two faces defining theright angle of the cross section is dimensioned so as to correspond tothe end face of a rectilinear block, and at least the two faces definingthe right angle are provided with openings into which pegs can be pushfitted for joining a solid triangular cross section block to anotherblock.

Preferably the length of such a triangular block measured perpendicularto the triangular cross section is equal to the width of one of therectilinear blocks making up the kit of parts, or is equal to a wholenumber multiple of that width, or is equal to length dimension of arectilinear block if that differs from a whole number multiple of thewidth of the block.

Where the triangular block length is N times the width of a rectilinearblock, the faces subtending the right angle are preferably formed with Nequally spaced apart openings the spacing of which is commensurate withthat of the spacing of openings in the faces of the rectilinear blocks.

By pegging one triangular block to the end of a rectilinear block, theshape of the combination becomes a solid trapezium.

The inclination of the sloping end face of the solid trapezoidal shapeso formed is determined by the angles of the two remaining corners ofthe solid triangular section block, and can be 45° or 30° or 60°, or anyother acute angle, relative to the length dimension of the rectilinearblock.

As has been described in my co-pending UK Applications 0302023.7 and0321043.2 solid trapezoidal blocks (whether made up of two blocks asherein proposed or of unitary construction) allow solid terraced cornerstructures to be constructed such as are required if a model stadium isto be constructed from blocks.

It has also been proposed to fit stepped cladding panels over theterraced structures made of blocks such as aforesaid, to resembleseating, and for some of the cladding panels to taper from top to bottomto define generally triangular pieces which can be fitted side by sideover the differently angled faces of the terraced blocks defining aterraced stadium corner as well as parallel sided pieces of steppedcladding for similarly fitting over the straight terraces defining thesides and ends of a model stadium.

According to another aspect of the present invention it is proposed thata model stadium may be constructed using blocks joined by pegs to eachother and to a flat base-plate, in which the sides, ends and corners ofthe model stadium are not constructed as solid terraced structures butas upright columns of blocks pegged to each other and to the base-plateand spaced apart and optionally joined by horizontally positioned blockslikewise joined by pegs to blocks forming the columns, to form askeleton structure, in combination with panels of stepped claddingresembling the terraces surrounding the central area of the stadium,where the cladding includes a plurality of spaced apart pegs protrudingfrom its rear face by which the cladding can be secured to the blocksmaking up the columns by push fitting the protruding pegs into openingsin the blocks, the cladding serving the dual purpose of givingstructural support to the columns of blocks, and covering the skeletonstructure so that the sides, corners and ends of the model appear assolid continuous terraces.

Preferably the columns are themselves stepped like a staircase with thestep size equating to the step size of the cladding.

The pegs joining the stepped blocks may extend horizontally andvertically between blocks.

Preferably the pegs are cylindrical and have a central bore as hereindescribed.

Preferably the pegs protruding from the rear and undersides of thecladding panels do so along the rear of the lowermost riser and theunderside of the uppermost tread defined by each cladding panel.

Preferably the treads of the cladding are formed with lines of spacedapart openings having the same spacing (pitch) as the openings in theblocks making up the skeleton staircase columns.

Preferably the holes in the cladding treads are all of the same diameterwhich is commensurate with the diameter of the central bores of thecylindrical pegs.

Where cylindrical pegs have to be fitted into the openings in the linesof blocks which will underlie the treads of the stepped cladding, thecentral openings in the pegs will align with the holes in the treads ofthe cladding. Seats or other items to be fitted to the terraces may beprovided with pins having a cross section which is a push fit onto theholes in the cladding. The pins will also be a push fit in the centralbores of any pegs in the blocks below the treads.

In this way seats and other items can be secured in place by pushingtheir pins down through the holes in the cladding and where pegs arelocated in blocks below these holes, into the centres of the pegstherebelow.

The overall shape of each panel of stepped cladding may be rectangular,square, triangular or trapezoidal, and can be dimensioned so as to fitfrom top to bottom of a given skeleton staircase block structure heightor over only part way from top to bottom of the skeleton staircasestructures.

Each panel of cladding may be coloured and different cladding panels maybe coloured differently from others so that coloured patterns can becreated as the panels are fitted to the skeleton staircase structure.

Whether the cladding is all the same colour or differently coloured, theseats may be differently coloured so that differently coloured patternscan be formed by selecting appropriately coloured seats for differentpositions around the model structure.

Where individual seats are to be fitted around corner regions of theterraces of stepped cladding the seats may be shaped so as to benarrower at their front edges than their backs.

As described in my co-pending Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2 theseats may be individual items, each separately securable in a hole in acladding panel.

Alternatively the seats may be formed in groups preferably in lines of Nseats in which the seats are joined together laterally. In this way thenumber of pins required to secure the seats in position can be reducedsince each group only requires two or three pins along its underside tosecure for example 4 or 8 or more joined up seats.

The lines of seats may be straight or may be curved or angled to allowthem to be fitted to corner regions of the terraces formed by thestepped cladding.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda kit of parts for a construction kit comprising apertured blocks andpegs for joining the blocks together, from which, in particular, a modelstadium can be constructed with terraces around a central area, whereinthe kit of parts is made up of just four different types of blocktogether with panels of stepped cladding which are adapted by protrudingpegs to be fitted to a skeleton structure made up of the blocks, whereinthe four different types of block comprise four-element and two-elementsolid rectilinear blocks, two-element solid regular trapezoidal cornerblocks, and infill corner blocks each of which is mostly a solidrectilinear shape which includes a small solid or triangular section atone end and whose overall length is not greater than that of thetwo-element regular trapezoidal corner block, where an element isconsidered to be a cube containing one opening centrally of each of itsfaces and an N-element rectilinear block can be though of as being madeup of N elements arranged end to end.

Preferably the infill corner blocks are dimensioned so that two joinedend to end with their sloping end faces in contact, will fit between theend faces of spaced apart rectilinear blocks at the upper outer ends oftwo skeleton staircase columns in each of which the bottom step may bemade up of a single two-element solid regular trapezoidal corner blockas aforesaid and the columns are positioned so that the inclined endfaces of the two lowermost blocks abut, and in which each staircasecolumn contains 10 steps above the bottom step, the first four of whichare built using two-element rectilinear blocks and the remaining six ofwhich are built using four-element rectilinear blocks, to make up thestaircase.

Preferably the edge of each infill block defining the acute angledcorner of the trapezoidal extension is chamfered, so that when two suchblocks are fitted with their sloping faces in contact, there is no sharpcorner between the two blocks, and when fitted singly between blocks atthe upper outer ends of two skeleton staircase columns the outerchamfered face of the infill block is generally co-planar with the outerface of the rectilinear block to which it abuts and has the samerectilinear dimensions as that of the end face of the rectilinear block.

When using such staircase columns of blocks to define a 90° corner of amodel stadium it will be found that the upper end of each of the firstand last corner-defining staircases can be secured to the end face ofthe uppermost rectilinear block in the immediately adjoining staircasecolumn defining one end of a side-run or end-run of the stadium terracesby using one infill corner block, and the chamfered corner thereofallows the infill block to fit correctly, and not protrude outwardlybeyond the adjoining block at the top of the adjoining side or endcolumn.

Likewise it will be found that if the lower end of each of the staircasecolumns of a corner-defining array is constructed using a two-elementsolid regular trapezoidal shaped corner block as aforesaid, the lowerends can all be joined using pegs between abutting inclined faces.

In a preferred arrangement a 90° corner can be defined by three suchstaircase columns if the inclined end faces of the three lowermostblocks each subtend a 15° angle to the length dimension of each suchblock, in which event the first and last of the inclined end faces ofthese three lowermost blocks subtend a right-angle and can be fitteddirectly to the end faces of the rectilinear blocks at the bottom of theadjoining staircase beginning a side or end run of terraces.

The uppermost block of each staircase column is preferably supported bya vertical column of blocks below it the lowermost block of which may bepegged to a flat base-board as may also the lowermost block at thebottom of the staircase column, so as to define with the base-board aright angled triangle of which the staircase is the hypotenuse.

A roof may be cantilevered over the terraces by building up the verticalwall above the uppermost blocks defining the staircase columns forexample by pegging blocks to the uppermost line of blocks around thestadium and if desired between the columns where the latter are spacedapart, and pegging blocks to the uppermost line of blocks of the builtup wall so as to extend horizontally over the terraces. The overhang maybe increased by pegging other blocks end to end to the horizontalblocks. In a preferred arrangement other blocks may be pegged to theside faces at the ends of the horizontally extending line of blocks andjoined by pegs end to end with other blocks to form a triangle of linesof blocks. Typically a 3,4,5 triangulation is defined with 4 blocksextending end to end horizontally, 3 end to end vertically, and 5 end toend blocks defining the hypotenuse. Cladding panels, which may be clearor coloured and may be surface embossed to resemble roofing, and whichmay be generally flat or may be shaped or curved, may be provided withopenings which register with holes in the blocks making the triangle sothat they can be pegged to the blocks making up the triangle, or mayinclude integral peg-like protrusions for pegging to the hypotenuses andpossibly also to the verticals of the triangulations.

The different aspects of the invention will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:—

FIGS. 1-3 are different views of a hinge for joining blocks,

FIGS. 3A and 3B show other examples of hinges,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are different views of a preferred peg,

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9A and 9B are different views of another arrangementby which two blocks can be hingedly joined,

FIGS. 10A-10D are different views of a solid trapezoidal block,

FIGS. 11A-11D are different views of a two-element solid regulartrapezoidal block,

FIGS. 12A-12D illustrate four basic building blocks which can be used tobuild a model stadium and FIGS. 12E-12M show how different blocks can bejoined together to make a variety of composite shapes,

FIG. 13 illustrates a preferred form of corner block such as shown inFIGS. 10 and 12 in which the corner forming the non-90° acute angle ofthe trapezoidal shape is chamfered,

FIG. 14 illustrates how a skeleton corner of a model stadium can bebuilt up by individual staircases of rectilinear blocks and joinedtogether using corner blocks, all as shown in FIG. 13 and FIGS. 12A-D,

FIG. 15 illustrates two generally triangular stepped cladding panelswhich can be fitted to staircase structures such as shown in FIG. 14,

FIG. 16 shows how two panels such as are shown in FIG. 15 can be fittedso as to overlie and tie together adjoining pairs of staircase columnsof FIG. 14, and

FIG. 17 is a cross section on line AA and shows seats fitted to claddingpanels,

FIGS. 17A and 17B are perspective views of a single seat and a line offour such seats,

FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrate a modified peg, and

FIGS. 19A, 19B and 20 illustrate a modified block for use with themodified peg of FIG. 18.

A hinge is shown in FIGS. 1-3 comprising a flat plate 10 divided by alinear region of reduced thickness forming a strip hinge 12 and havingpegs 14, 16 which extend perpendicularly from the plate. Each peg ischamfered at 18, 20 to assist its insertion into a hole in a block ofthe type described in my co-pending Applications 0302023.7 and 0321043.2and will be described in more detail later.

Two blocks 22, 24 shown in dotted outline in FIG. 3 are shown fitted tothe hinge, with the two parts of the plate hinged to subtend 90°.

The modified hinges in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B show how the two parts of theplate need not be the same shape and size (in FIG. 3A), nor fit intoonly one hole in one block but can be fitted for example into two holesin one block face or the two holes in two end faces of two blocksarranged side by side, as shown by the two-peg parts of the hinge ofFIG. 3B.

The pegs in FIG. 3A are denoted by 26, 28, 30 and 32 and in FIG. 3B by34, 36, 38 and 40.

In each case the peg may be solid and if so may have an axially paralleldiametrical cut, or may be formed with a central through bore (showndotted by way of example at 42, 44 in FIG. 3), and may also include anaxially parallel cut (gap) such as 46, 48 in the cylindrical wall (seeFIG. 2), or two such cuts or gaps (not shown) may be made in each peg atopposite ends of a diameter of the cylindrical cross section.

Loose pegs are used to join blocks together, and a preferred form of pegconstruction is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Here the peg is a cylindricalsleeve 50 having chamfered ends 52, 54 and a single axially parallel cut(gap) 56 in the cylindrical wall.

By forming the peg from resilient material such as certain plastics, orfrom spring steel, the cylinder can be radially compressed to the extentpermitted by the gap, so that if a hole into which it is to be pushed isslightly smaller in diameter than the uncompressed external diameter ofthe peg, the latter will be compressed as it is pushed into a hole, andwill grip more firmly the wall of the hole, when inserted.

FIGS. 6-9 show another form of hinged block joint. Here speciallyconstructed blocks are required one being similar to FIG. 6A and theother to FIG. 6B.

In FIG. 6A the block 60 includes a parallel sided slot 62 bounded by twoparallel spaced apart side cheeks 64, 66 while the opposed end of theblock 68 in FIG. 6B is cutaway by way of rebates 70, 72 to leave areduced width tongue 74, the dimensions of the slot 62 and the rebatesforming the tongue 74 being such that the latter is a sliding fitbetween the two side cheeks 64, 66.

Holes 76, 78 in the side cheeks align with a hole 80 in the tongue 74when the latter is inserted between the two side cheeks of block 60 anda cylindrical peg or pin 82 is fitted through the aligned holes 76, 78,80 to form a hinge pin.

If the ends of the side cheeks and tongue are semicircular as shown at84 and 86 in FIG. 8 and the rebates extend to the positions shown at 88,90 in FIG. 6B, the block 68 can be rotated through 90° on either side ofthe in-line position for the two blocks 60 and 68.

Also shown in FIGS. 6-8 is the base 92 of the slot 62 in the block 60.

If the base of the slot is modified to the contoured shape denoted byone or both of the dotted lines 94, 96 in FIG. 9A, and the base of eachrebate 70, 72 is modified to the contoured shape of 98 and/or 100 asshown in FIG. 9B (instead of the straight edges 88, 90), the two blocks60, 68 can be rotated beyond one or both of the two 90° positions.

Through bores are shown in the two blocks for receiving pegs such asshown in FIG. 5. Thus three bores are shown at 102, 104 and 106 in thecross section of block 60 in FIG. 6A and also in FIG. 9A, and bores 108,110, 112 and 114 are shown in the cross section of block 68 in FIG. 6Band also in FIG. 9B.

A solid trapezoidal corner block 116 is shown in FIGS. 10A-10D. Theblock includes three peg receiving bores 118, 120 and 122 best seen inthe cross section view of FIG. 10D and one inclined end 124 and onesquare end 126. All other faces are square to each other.

A solid regular trapezoidal corner block 128 is shown in FIGS. 11A to11D. This has two equally inclined opposite end faces 130, 132, two pegreceiving cross-bores 134, 136, one orthogonal top to bottom bore 138and two end bores 140, 142.

The two corner blocks 116 and 128 of FIGS. 10 and 11 are shown again atFIGS. 12A and 12B. Two basic rectilinear blocks are shown at 144 and 146in FIGS. 12C and 12D, the former (144) having 4 openings along twoopposed longer faces (one of which is shown at 148) and 3 openings alongthe other two opposed longer faces, while the latter (146) in FIG. 12Dis half the length of the block 144 and has two openings along two ofits opposed faces (one being shown at 150 in FIG. 12D) and one openingcentrally of its other two opposed faces.

The remaining FIGS. 12E-12M show different combinations of the blocks116, 128, 144 and 146.

The junction of two corner blocks 116A, 116B arranged as shown in FIG.12G produces a sharp corner at 152 and as shown in FIG. 13 this can beremoved by chamfering the corner 154 (see FIG. 12A) of each of the twoblocks (as denoted by 156 in FIG. 13).

More importantly the extent of the chamfer is preferably selected sothat the area of the inclined face 124A of the chamfered end of block116C is the same as the area of the square end 145 of a rectilinearblock such as 144 of FIG. 12C. In this way all four edges of theinclined end such as 116C will align with all four edges of a square end145 when the two ends are in abutting relationship.

The advantage of this chamfering is best seen in FIG. 14. Here 5staircase columns of blocks are shown (generally designated 158, 160,162, 164 and 166) defining a corner of a terraced model stadium. Each ofcolumns 160, 162 and 164 is constructed from a doubled ended cornerblock 128, a series of four steps made up of half size (2-element)rectilinear blocks 146 and six further steps made up of full size(4-element) rectilinear blocks 144. If the columns are positioned asshown in FIG. 14 so that the inclined ends of the three lowermost doubleended blocks 128A, 128B, and 128C are in abutting relationship, the gapsbetween the end faces of the uppermost full size blocks 144 can just befilled by a pair of trapezoidal corner blocks 116A and 116B arranged asshown in FIG. 12G.

Pegs are employed to join the ends of the blocks 128 to each other andto the square ends of rectilinear blocks 144A, 144B, only part of eachof which is shown in FIG. 14, which comprise the bottom blocks ofparallel sides staircase columns 158 and 166, each of which is made upof a plurality of full size blocks 144 arranged to produce a staircasehaving 11 treads, each corresponding to a terrace in the model stadium.Similar staircase columns of full size (or half size) rectilinear blocks144 (or 146) can be arranged side by side so as to touch and be joinedby pegs to form staircase columns to define the two longer straightsides and the shorter straight ends of the stadium, and the other threecorners may be constructed in the same way as the corner shown in FIG.14.

The skeleton structure can be made self supporting for example byupright columns of blocks below the uppermost blocks in each of thestaircase columns such as 158, 160 etc. This is best seen at 168 in FIG.17 which is a cross section through the staircase column 166 of FIG. 14also shown in FIG. 16. In order to give rigidity to the column 168 asingle long length of peg material 170 may be pushed through verticallyaligned holes in the blocks 144C, 144D, to 144M and into a hole (notshown) in a base-plate 172 (see FIG. 17).

The block at the foot of the staircase which is either a double sidedcorner block such as 128A, B or C (around the corner) or is arectilinear block such as 144A or 144B (if along a side or end of themodel stadium), can be pegged to the base-plate 172 in a similar way bymeans of a shorter peg shown dotted by 174 in FIG. 17.

Each step after the bottom step in each staircase column is made up oftwo blocks making up a pair one on top of the other, the lower one ofeach pair being pegged to the rear face of either the lowermost block orthe upper block of the preceding step, and the upper one of each pairbeing pegged to the upper face of the lower one of the pair and to thefront face of the lower one of the pair forming the next step up, untilthe last step is reached which forms the upper end of a vertical columnof blocks such as 168. In consequence some of the vertically alignedholes in the blocks will be occupied by a cylindrical peg of the typeshown in FIG. 4. Some of these are shown in FIG. 17 and one is denotedby reference numeral 176.

As shown in FIG. 15 stepped panels such as shown at 178 and 180 arefabricated from moulded plastics and are formed with short pegs such asat 182, 184 in the case of panel 180 and 186, 188 in the case of panel178.

The pegs such as 182, 184 are used to peg the panel to the top andbottom blocks in a staircase column such as shown in FIG. 17 where thepegs can be seen push fitted into openings in the front face of thelowermost block 144B and uppermost block 144C of the staircase column166 (of FIGS. 14 and 16).

In FIG. 16, panels such as 178 and 180 of FIG. 15 are seen fitted overtwo of the staircase columns of the corner array of FIG. 14. Each of thepanels includes two mutually angled portions so as to accommodate theangle between two adjoining staircase columns in the corner array ofFIG. 14. However while each step extends symmetrically about the centreline of panel 178 which in turn defines the angle between the two angledparts of the panel, the line defining the apex of the angle subtended bythe two parts of the panel 180 is offset from the mid point of the stepsand the length of each step to the left of the line is approximately onehalf the length on the right of that line.

This is best seen in FIG. 16 in which each of the stepped panels 180Aand 180B (each similar to 180 in FIG. 15) is fitted over parts of eachof staircase columns 158, 160 and 164, 166 respectively, while twostepped panels 178A and 178B (each similar to 178 in FIG. 15) are fittedover parts of staircase columns 160 and 162 (in the case of 178A) andparts of staircase columns 162 and 164 (in the case of 178B).

For clarity panels 178A and 180B have been shown shaded in FIG. 16.

As will be evident from FIGS. 15 and 16 the horizontal surfaces of eachof the steps in the panels is apertured by generally regularly spacedapart holes such as 190 (see FIGS. 15, 16 and 17). The holes in thepanels 178, 180 align with the top and bottom holes in the blocks makingup the staircase columns, as will be seen in FIG. 17 in which the hole192 containing the upper part of the vertical peg 176 is shown in axialalignment with the hole 190 in the fifth step of panel 180B.

The sides and ends of the stadium may be formed by a plurality ofstaircase columns of similar sized rectilinear blocks, arrangedsimilarly to those in the corner staircase columns so that in crosssection they will resemble the cross section view of FIG. 17. These sideand end defining columns may abut and be joined by laterally extendingpegs or pins, or may be spaced apart and joined by the side or enddefining stepped cladding panels, which span the gaps and tie one columnto the next. Preferably however, at least the top and bottom blocks ofthe side and end staircase columns are joined by rectilinear blocks aswell as by cladding. The side and end cladding panel steps may beapertured in the same way as the corner cladding panels shown in FIGS.15, 16 and 17.

Each peg such as 176 is cylindrical and therefore includes a centralthrough bore 177 (see FIG. 17.

Miniature seats 194 (see FIG. 17A) are provided for fitting to theterraces formed by the stepped cladding panels 178, 180 and side and endstepped cladding panels

Each seat comprises an upright back 196, and horizontal seat portion198, a pedestal 200 and a pin 202 which protrudes centrally of and belowthe pedestal. The pin 202 is circular in cross section and has adiameter such that it is a push fit in the holes such as 190 in thecladding panels 178, 180.

The pins 202 will extend into the holes 192 and where these are occupiedby cylindrical pegs such as 176, the pin 202 will extend into thethrough bore 177 of the peg.

If the pins 202 are also a push fit into pegs 176 the fitting of theseats to the cladding panels will, where a peg 176 extends below thehole 190, further clamp the panel to the blocks making up the staircasecolumn.

By comparing FIGS. 14 and 16 it will be seen that the panels 178, 180not only cover and clad the skeleton staircase columns but alsolaterally tie the columns together and form part of the structure of themodel stadium.

A modified peg is shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B. This is substantially thesame as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and the same reference numerals areemployed to denote parts in common with FIGS. 4 and 5. However themodified peg includes a radial flange 59 which extends around some ofthe circumference of the body of the peg 50, approximately midway of thelength of the peg. Chamfered ends 52, 54 may also be included as inFIGS. 4 and 5.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show how a standard four element block such as 144 inFIG. 12C is modified to accommodate the flange 59. Here the block isidentified as 144′ and FIG. 19A corresponds to the view of the block 144shown in FIG. 12. Around the outer end of each of the cross bores in theblock (one of which is denoted as 147 in FIG. 19A), is formed a shallowcircular rebate, one of which can be seen at 149 in FIG. 19A. The rebate151 at the other end can be seen in FIG. 19B, which is a cross sectionon the line AA of FIG. 19A. Similar rebates can be seen in FIGS. 19A and19B at each end of the cross bores (such as 147) and around each of theholes in each of the end faces of the block 143, 145 as shown at 153,155.

FIG. 20 shows in cross section two four-element blocks 158, 160 joinedby one modified peg 162, which demonstrates how the rebates in theopposed faces 164, 166 of the two blocks each accommodate one half thethickness of the flange 168 of peg 162, so that the two blocks can fittogether in abutting relationship. Other modified pegs such as 170, 172are shown fitted into other holes in the two blocks to allow otherblocks (not shown) to be fitted to the assembly of blocks 164, 166.

The modified pegs 162, 170, 172 are the same as the modified peg shownin FIGS. 18A and 18B and the flange such as 168 in the case of peg 162,prevents the peg from entering a block by more than the distance to thefirst cross bore (such as 174 in block 160) between holes in the otherpair of faces of the block (see also 147 in FIG. 19B) so as not tointerfere with the insertion of pegs into holes defining the cross boressuch as 147 and 174.

1. A construction kit comprising a kit of parts comprising aperturedblocks and pegs for joining the blocks together to form a model stadium,outdoor theatre or arena, with terraces around a central area, whereinthe kit of parts comprises a baseboard, pegs, four different types ofblock, and a plurality of panels of stepped cladding which are adaptedby protruding pegs to be fitted to a skeleton support structure made upof blocks attached to and rising upwardly and away from a central regionof the baseboard, wherein the four different types of block comprisefour-element and two-element solid rectilinear blocks, two-element solidregular trapezoidal corner blocks, and infill corner blocks each ofwhich is partly a solid rectilinear shape and partly a solid triangularextension at one end whose overall length is not greater than that ofthe two-element regular trapezoidal corner block, where an element isconsidered to be a cube containing one opening centrally of each of itsfaces and an N-element rectilinear block gas a length equal to Nelements arranged end to end.
 2. A kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein thepegs which protrude from the cladding are adapted to be push fitted intoapertures in faces of blocks making up staircase structures which facethe said central region.
 3. A kit as claimed in claim 2 wherein theinfill corner blocks are dimensioned so that two joined end to end withtheir sloping end faces in contact, will just fit between the end facesof spaced apart rectilinear blocks at the upper outer ends of twoadjacent staircase structures in each of which the bottom step is madeup of a single two-element solid regular trapezoidal corner block in endto end contact with that at the bottom of the adjacent staircase.
 4. Akit as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the edge of each infill blockwhich defines the acute angled corner of the trapezoidal extensionthereof is chamfered, so that when two such blocks are fitted with theirinclined faces in contact, there is no sharp corner between the twoblocks.
 5. A kit as claimed in claim 4 wherein the angle of the chamferis chosen so that the inclined end face has the same rectilineardimensions as that of the end face of a rectilinear block.
 6. A kit asclaimed in of claim 1 further comprising roofing panels also adapted tobe secured to a skeleton roof support structure of blocks by means ofpegs.
 7. A kit as claimed in claim 6 wherein the pegs are integrallyformed with the roofing panels.
 8. A kit as claimed in claim 6 whereinthe roofing panels are clear.
 9. A kit as claimed in claim 6 wherein theroofing panels are coloured.
 10. A kit as claimed in claim 6 wherein thesurface of the roofing panels is embossed to resemble roofing.
 11. A kitas claimed in any of claim 6 wherein the roofing panels are generallyflat or shaped or curved.
 12. A kit as claimed in any of claim 6 whereinthe roofing panels are provided with openings which register with holesin blocks making up the roof support structure so that they can bepegged to the blocks.
 13. A kit as claimed in claim 1 further comprisinga hinge for hingedly joining two blocks together comprising arectangular plastics plate divided into two parts by a strip hingeformed by a linear region of reduced thickness extending across theplate, whereby one part can be pivoted through at least 90° relative tothe other by bending about the line of the strip hinge and wherein eachhalf includes at least one peg protruding therefrom by which it can befitted to one of the blocks.
 14. A kit as claimed in claim 13 whereineach peg is constructed so as to be a push fit in any of the openings inany of the apertured blocks.
 15. A kit as claimed in claim 13 whereinthe two pegs extend from the same face of the plate when the two partsof the latter are coplanar.
 16. A kit as claimed in claim 13 wherein thestrip hinge permits the two parts of the plate to be hinged until theyare back to back and in contact, so that if blocks are secured to thepegs protruding from the two back to back parts, the two blocks will bein linear alignment in opposite directions on either side of the foldedplate, spaced apart by the thickness of the two back to back parts. 17.A kit as claimed in claim 13 wherein a plurality of pegs protrude fromone of the parts whereby two or more blocks can be secured thereto. 18.A kit as claimed in claim 17 wherein the other plate also has aplurality of pegs protruding therefrom whereby two or more blocks can besecured to both of the hinged parts.
 19. A kit as claimed in claim 17wherein the spacing of the pegs corresponds to the spacing of the pegreceiving apertures in the blocks, whereby a part having two protrudingpegs can be fitted to two adjacent apertures in one block, or to twoblocks arranged end to end or side by side with one peg fitted into anaperture in one of the blocks and the other peg fitted into an aperturein the other.
 20. A kit as claimed in claim 13 wherein the or each hingeis constructed so as to have two similar sized plates.
 21. A kit asclaimed in claim 1 in which, in use, blocks are to be spaced apart inthe same way as bricks are spaced by mortar joints, wherein each of atleast some of the individual pegs includes a flange at a positionintermediate its ends, the thickness of the flange determining thespacing which will exist between two opposed faces of two blocks joinedby inserting one end of the peg into an opening in one block and theother end of the peg into an opening in the other block.
 22. A kit asclaimed in claim 21 wherein the flange is located midway between theends of the peg.
 23. A kit as claimed in claim 22 wherein the flange isrectangular or square.
 24. A kit as claimed in claim 23 wherein thedimensions of the flange are such that when fitted between two similarblocks the edges of the flange are stepped back relative to thecorresponding edges of the two blocks, so as to resemble a mortar jointbetween two bricks.
 25. A kit as claimed in claim 21 wherein the flangeis formed integrally with the peg.
 26. A kit as claimed in claim 21wherein the flange is separate from a peg and is apertured to allow itto be push fitted onto a peg.
 27. A kit as claimed in claim 21 whereinthe flange is separate from peg and has a slotted aperture thereinthrough which a peg can be pushed, so that relative movement is possiblebetween the peg and the flange, whereby in use a peg can be insertedinto any one of two or more openings in a block face, and the flange canbe slid relative, to the block, so as to be aligned therewith.
 28. A kitas claimed in claim 1 in which each of at least some of the pegsincludes a radial protrusion or a flange which extends around some orall of the perimeter of the peg cross section at one position along itslength, for the purpose of limiting the depth to which the peg can beinserted into an opening in a block.
 29. A kit as claimed in claim 28wherein the radial protrusion or flange is located midway of the lengthof the peg, so that approximately one half the length of a peg isavailable to protrude into the two apertures in two blocks it is tojoin, or into a block and a baseboard to which the block is to besecured by the peg.
 30. A kit as claimed in claim 28 wherein a recess orrebate is formed around the entrance to each aperture in each of atleast some of the blocks, to accommodate at least one half the thicknessof any protrusion or flange, so that when two blocks are located face toface the recesses or rebates align to form cavities between the abuttingfaces of the two blocks which will accommodate any such protrusion orflange, and allow the block faces to make contact.
 31. A kit as claimedin claim 1 wherein each of at least some of the pegs is cylindrical, andthe cylindrical wall is cutaway along the length of the peg to form agap in the circumference of the peg, which extends from one end of thepeg to the other.
 32. A kit as claimed in claim 31 wherein thecylindrical peg wall is formed from resiliently deformable material andthe outside diameter of the cylindrical form is oversize relative to theapertures in the blocks in which it is to be received, and the act ofpushing the peg into an aperture in a block will cause the gap in thecylindrical wall to close up and reduce the overall cross sectionaldimension of the peg so that it can slide into the aperture in theblock.
 33. A kit as claimed in claim 31 wherein the resilience of thepeg material tends to hold the peg firmly in place in the aperture,since all the time it is in the block the cylindrical cross section willbe reduced and the peg will be trying to enlarge and recover itsuncompressed size, and will thereby firmly grip the wall of theaperture.
 34. A kit as claimed in claim 32 wherein each said peg isformed from resilient plastics material or from spring steel.
 35. A kitas claimed in claim 31 wherein the ends of the pegs are chamfered tofacilitate their insertion into apertures in the blocks.
 36. A kit asclaimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of blocks are to be hinged, andwherein one end of one of the pair of blocks is cut away on two oppositeside faces to form a reduced width rebated end region, and one end ofthe other block of the pair is cutaway to form a bifurcated end havingtwo parallel spaced apart side cheeks between which the rebated endregion of the other block can slide, and wherein the rebated andbifurcated end regions are formed with through bores which are axiallyaligned when the rebated end region of the one block is fitted betweenthe two side cheeks of the bifurcated end region of the other, wherebyin use a peg can be pushed therethrough to serve as a pivot member andallow one block to hinge relative to the other.
 37. A kit as claimed inclaim 36 wherein the diameter of the bore in at least one of the sidecheeks is such that a peg is a push fit therein and will be grippedthereby so as not to fall out.
 38. A kit as claimed in claim 37 whereinthe peg is either a push fit in the bore through the rebated end regionso that the two blocks will not freely rotate about the hinge axis butwill remain at whatever angle of inclination the two blocks are rotatedinto, or the peg is a running fit in the bore so that the two blocks arefreely hingeable about the hinge axis.
 39. A kit as claimed in claim 36wherein the length of the peg is the same as the width of the bifurcatedblock so as not to protrude from the ends of the bores in the two sidecheeks when fitted thereto.
 40. A kit as claimed in claim 36 wherein thelength of the peg is greater than the width of the bifurcated block sothat at least one end of the peg will protrude from a side cheek topermit it to be push fitted into a through bore or aperture in anotheradjoining block.
 41. A kit as claimed in claim 36 wherein the diameterof the bores in the bifurcated and rebated end regions of the two blocksis commensurate with that of the apertures in the blocks into which pegsare fitted to given blocks the one to the other, so that one peg can beemployed for both purposes.
 42. A kit as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising at least one block whose cross section is a right angledtriangle and wherein at least the two faces defining the right angle areprovided with openings into which pegs can be push fitted for joiningthe solid triangular cross section block to another block.
 43. A kit asclaimed in claim 42 wherein at least one of the two faces defining theright angle of the cross section is dimensioned so as to correspond insize to the end face of a rectilinear block, for fitting thereto.
 44. Akit as claimed in claim 42 wherein the length of the triangular blockmeasured perpendicular to the triangular cross section is equal to thewidth of one of the rectilinear blocks or to a whole number multiple ofthat width.
 45. A kit as claimed in claim 41 wherein the length of thetriangular block measured perpendicular to the triangular cross sectionis equal to length dimension of a rectilinear block.
 46. A kit asclaimed in claim 41 wherein the triangular block length is N times thewidth of a rectilinear block and the faces subtending the right angleare formed with N equally spaced apart apertures the spacing of which iscommensurate with that of the spacing of apertures in the faces of therectilinear blocks.
 47. A kit as claimed in claim 41 wherein in use thetriangular block is pegged to the end face of a rectilinear block so asto form a solid trapezium.
 48. A kit as claimed in claim 41 wherein theinclination of the sloping face of the solid trangular section block toone of the other faces, is 45°, or 30°, or 60°.
 49. A model stadium,arena or open air theatre assembly constructed from a kit of parts asclaimed in claim 1 wherein stepped cladding panels are located overstaircase structures made of stepped columns of blocks joined by pegs,and wherein some of the stepped cladding panels taper from to top tobottom to define generally triangular pieces which can be fitted side byside around a corner of the assembly and others of the stepped claddingpanels are parallel sided for similarly fitting over staircasestructures defining straight sides or ends of the assembly.
 50. A modelas claimed in claim 49 wherein the blocks forming the staircasestructures are joined to each other and to a baseboard by pegs.
 51. Amodel as claimed in claim 50 wherein blocks are joined together to formstaircase structures rising upwardly and outwardly from a central regionof the baseboard to form a skeleton structure, and wherein each of thestepped cladding panels which are to be fitted thereto to resembleterraces surrounding the central region, includes a plurality of spacedapart pegs protruding from its rear face by which it can be secured tothe blocks making up a staircase structure by push fitting theprotruding pegs into apertures in the blocks, the cladding serving thedual purpose of structurally supporting the staircase structure andcovering the skeleton structure formed thereby so that the sides,corners and ends of the model appear as solid continuous terraces.
 52. Amodel as claimed in claim 51 wherein blocks are positioned between andjoined at their ends to blocks making up adjacent staircase structure.53. A model as claimed in claim 49 wherein the pegs joining the steppedblocks extend horizontally and vertically between blocks.
 54. A model asclaimed in claim 49 wherein the pegs protruding from the rear andundersides of each cladding panel do so along the rear of the lowermostriser and the underside of the uppermost tread of the cladding panel.55. A model as claimed in claim 49 wherein the treads of the claddingpanels are formed with lines of spaced apart openings having the samepitch as the apertures in the blocks making up the staircase structures.56. A model as claimed in claim 55 wherein the pegs are hollowcylindrical devices, the openings in the cladding are all of the samediameter which is commensurate with the diameter of the central bore ofeach of the cylindrical pegs, so that where pegs are inserted intoblocks, they will align with the openings in the cladding, when thecladding is fitted thereover.
 57. A model as claimed in claim 56 furthercomprising items such as seats, having pins protruding therebelow bywhich they can be fitted to the cladding by pushing the pins through theopenings in the cladding and into the central bores of pegs in theblocks therebelow, thereby to secure the items in place and to furtherjoin the cladding panels to the blocks making up the staircasestructures.
 58. A model as claimed in claim 57 wherein the pins are apush fit in the central bores of the pegs.
 59. A model as claimed inclaim 49 wherein the lower end of each of the staircase structures of acorner-defining array is constructed using a two-element solid regulartrapezoidal shaped corner block and the lower ends of all the staircasecolumns are joined using pegs between abutting end faces.
 60. A model asclaimed in claim 59 wherein a 90° corner is defined by three staircasestructures, and each inclined end face of each of the three lowermostblocks in each of the three columns subtends a 15° angle to the lengthdimension of each such block, so that the first and last of the inclinedend faces of these three lowermost blocks subtend a right-angle wherebyin use they can be fitted directly to the end faces of rectilinearblocks at the bottom of adjacent staircase structures in side or endruns of the assembly.
 61. A model as claimed in claim 49 wherein theuppermost block of each staircase structure is supported by a verticalcolumn of blocks below it and the lowermost block of the vertical columnis pegged to the base-board as is also the lowermost block at the bottomof the staircase structure, so as to define with the base-board a rightangled triangle of which the staircase is the hypotenuse.
 62. A model asclaimed in claim 61 wherein a further column of blocks is located belowat least one other of the blocks making up the staircase structure. 63.A model as claimed in claim 61 further comprising a roof structurecantilevered inwardly over at least part of the stepped terraces formedby the cladding.
 64. A model as claimed in claim 63 wherein blocks arefitted above the uppermost blocks defining the staircase structures bypegging at least one line of blocks to the uppermost line of blocksaround the stadium and between the structures where the latter arespaced apart, to form a roof support wall, and pegging blocks to theuppermost line of blocks of the roof support wall so as to extendinwardly over the terraces at right angles to the support wall.
 65. Akit of parts comprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining themtogether wherein there is provided a hinge for hingedly joining at leasttwo blocks together comprising a rectangular plastics plate divided intotwo parts by a strip hinge formed by a linear region of reducedthickness extending across the plate, whereby one part can be pivotedthrough at least 90° relative to the other by bending about the line ofthe strip hinge and wherein each half includes at least one pegprotruding therefrom by which it can be fitted to one of the blocks. 66.A kit of parts comprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining themtogether and in which blocks are to be spaced apart in the same way asbricks are spaced by mortar joints, wherein each of or least some of theindividual pegs include a flange at a position intermediate its ends,the thickness of the flange determining the spacing which will existbetween the opposed faces of two blocks joined by inserting one end ofthe peg into an opening in one block and the other end of the peg intoan opening in the other block.
 67. A kit of parts comprising aperturedblocks and pegs for joining them together wherein each of at least someof the pegs is formed with a radial protrusion or flange which extendsaround some or all of the perimeter of the peg cross section, for thepurpose of limiting the depth to which the peg can be inserted into anopening in a block.
 68. A kit as claimed in claim 67 wherein a recess orrebate is formed around the entrance to each aperture in each of atleast some of the blocks, to accommodate at least one half the thicknessof any protrusion or flange, so that when two blocks are located face toface the recesses or rebates align to form cavities between the abuttingfaces of the two blocks which will accommodate any such protrusion orflange, and allow the block faces to make contact.
 69. A kit of partscomprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining them together whereineach of at least some of the pegs is cylindrical and the cylindricalwall is cutaway along the length of the peg to form a small gap at onepoint around the circumference of the peg, which extends from one end ofthe peg to the other.
 70. A kit as claimed in claim 69 wherein thecylindrical peg wall is formed from resiliently deformable material andthe outside diameter of the cylindrical form is oversize relative to theapertures in the blocks in which it is to be received, and the act ofpushing the peg into an aperture in a block will cause the gap in thecylindrical wall to close up and reduce the overall cross sectionaldimension of the peg so that it can slide into the aperture in theblock.
 71. A kit of parts comprising apertured blocks and pegs forjoining them together wherein a pair of blocks are to be hinged, andwherein one end of one of the pair of blocks is cut away on two oppositeside faces to form a reduced width rebated end region, and one end ofthe other block of the pair is cutaway to form a bifurcated end havingtwo parallel spaced apart side cheeks between which the rebated endregion of the other block can slide, and wherein the rebated andbifurcated end regions are formed with through bores which are axiallyaligned when the rebated end region of the one block is fitted betweenthe two side cheeks of the bifurcated end region of the other, wherebyin use a peg can be pushed therethrough to serve as a pivot member andallow one block to hinge relative to the other.
 72. A kit of partscomprising apertured blocks and pegs for joining them together furthercomprising at least one block whose cross section is a right angledtriangle and wherein at least the two faces defining the right angle areprovided with openings into which pegs can be push fitted for joiningthe solid triangular cross section block to another block.
 73. A modelstadium, arena or open air theatre assembly constructed from a kit ofparts comprised of a baseboard, apertured blocks and pegs by which theblocks are joined to each other and to the baseboard wherein steppedcladding panels are located over staircase structures made of steppedcolumns of blocks, and wherein some of the stepped cladding panels taperfrom to top to bottom to define generally triangular pieces which can befitted side by side around a corner of the assembly and others of thestepped cladding panels are parallel sided for similarly fitting overstaircase structures defining straight sides or ends of the assembly.74. A model as claimed in claim 73 wherein each of the stepped claddingpanels which are to be fitted thereto to resemble terraces surroundingthe central region, includes a plurality of spaced apart pegs protrudingfrom its rear face by which it can be secured to the blocks making up astaircase structure by push fitting the protruding pegs into aperturesin the blocks, the cladding serving the dual purpose of structurallysupporting the staircase structure and covering the skeleton structureformed thereby so that the sides, corners and ends of the model appearas solid continuous terraces.
 75. A model as claimed in claim 73 whereinthe treads of the cladding panels are formed with lines of spaced apartopenings having the same pitch as the apertures in the blocks making upthe staircase structures.
 76. A model as claim in claim 75 wherein thepegs are hollow cylindrical devices, the openings in the cladding areall of the same diameter which is commensurate with the diameter of thecentral bore of each of the cylindrical pegs, so that where pegs areinserted into blocks, they will align with the openings in the cladding,when the cladding is fitted thereover.
 77. A model as claimed in claim76 further comprising items such as seats, having pins protrudingtherebelow by which they can be fitted to the cladding by pushing thepins through the openings in the cladding and into the central bores ofpegs in the blocks therebelow, thereby to secure the items in place andto further join the cladding panels to the blocks making up thestaircase structures.
 78. A model as claimed in claim 77 wherein thepins are a push fit in the central bores of the pegs.